Gas tops $4 per gallon on island

Four-dollar gas has hit Massachusetts, with gas stations on Martha's Vineyard charging an average of $4.06 for a gallon of self-serve unleaded.

SARAH SHEMKUS

Four-dollar gas has hit Massachusetts.

Gas stations on Martha's Vineyard are charging an average of $4.06 for a gallon of self-serve unleaded — and some prices are as high as $4.19 — according to a telephone survey conducted yesterday by the Cape Cod Times.

Nantucket isn't far behind, with prices for unleaded gas now ranging from $3.94 to $3.99 a gallon.

"Prices are significantly higher on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket than anywhere else in the state," said Art Kinsman, spokesman for AAA Southern New England.

The statewide average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded was $3.50 yesterday, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The average price on the Cape was $3.52 per gallon.

A Times survey of Cape Cod gas stations found an average price of $3.53 per gallon this week, a jump of 28 cents over the past two weeks.

Gas prices have been escalating nationwide, driven in part by the cost of crude oil, which has been trading near $120 a barrel all week.

In addition, in geographically constrained areas like the islands, there often are fewer businesses competing against each other to moderate prices.

"In an island situation, you pay island prices for a lot of goods and services," Kinsman said.

The low price on the Vineyard yesterday was $3.86 at Menemsha Texaco. Prices at four of the other six Vineyard gas stations ranged from $4.07 to $4.19 a gallon yesterday. The remaining two declined to give their prices over the phone.

Local businesses are feeling the impact of the soaring prices.

"Business has slowed down because people can't afford to pay shipping costs," said Sally Sylvia, manager of Sun Transportation, a Vineyard Haven delivery company that operates five trucks. "It's a lot slower this spring than it has been other springs."

High prices could be less troublesome for tourists, however, said Nancy Gardella, the executive director of the Martha'a Vineyard Chamber of Commerce.

The majority of visitors to Martha's Vineyard, she said, don't bring a vehicle with them, and depend, instead, on the area's public transportation system.

For year-round residents, the island's small size could work to their advantage as gas prices rise, said Jim Miller, the former transportation planner for the Martha's Vineyard Commission.

Though Vineyard residents use their cars as frequently as people on the mainland do, their trips are generally shorter, keeping their total mileage lower, he said.

"Cape Codders might think nothing of driving 20 miles to go to the shops in Hyannis," said Miller, who rides his bicycle or takes the bus for his 18-mile daily commute between Edgartown and Aquinnah. "When you're on the Vineyard, that's a big trip."

Many Vineyarders also take advantage of their regular trips off the island to fill up their tanks with gas from less expensive mainland gas stations, he said.

"No one ever goes off to the ferry with a full tank of gas," he said. "And everyone coming back has a full tank."